Believing in Myself

WhoohoohoohooHOO!!! Although we are in week 9 of this semester out of 13, I have only received back three grades, and the paper I've been waiting for finally got put in my hand today. This paper was my ethics paper. I worked on it for a while, did the research, proofread it, all that jazz, spent time on it, and actually felt like I had handed in something up to my own standard, whereas a couple other things I have handed in I've known I could do better (and my grades have shown that). Now, this ethics paper was one where I felt like I did a good job, but talking to other people, they all seemed to answer it in a different way - everybody. I guess the topic was pretty open ended as to how you could go about answering it, but regardless, I felt like it was a good paper and I was confident handing it in - as long as the teacher understood where I was coming from (I did bring up abortion, which I feel is always a tricky subject to write about). But, as I am sure you could guess by my first sentence, I am so proud of myself! I got a D+!!! and that's a great thing here! It's a Distinction, which is one below High Distinction, which is very hard to get. I guess sometimes I need to have more confidence in myself.

This ties into a race a I did the other weekend...
A couple Sundays ago I joined in the fun of a team "quadrathlon." My family friends here - Jen, her husband Paul, and their brother-in-law Danny, needed a swimmer for the Coogee Beach Ocean Adventure race they were doing. Jen knows I swim, or at least like to swim, so I agreed. Well, I have never "swam" in the ocean. Laps that is. So I got my swim on - swam once in the ocean and once in the pool (I even bought a 10 punch pass which I have yet to use again) to get the feeling of 750m. Not much training for the big day. I was excited, but also scared I would "let them down" in my speed. I have never done an event like this, but have always wanted to. And it was SO MUCH FUN!!! My swim was the first part, so I put my bright yellow swim cap on, pulled the goggles over my eyes, and took off with the rest of the competitors down a stretch of the beach. Whoo - adrenaline rush for sure! It was over before I knew it. I ran my 200 or so metres (haha - I'm picking up Aussie spelling here and there as that is how I have to turn my essays in) to the transition zone and handed off my ankle bracelet with the timer to Danny of cyclist. Besides being attacked by stingers (little jellyfish like things) I was also bitten the the triathlon bug! I can not WAIT for next summer, or even the Stroke and Stride at the Boulder Reservoir. Overall, my team took 2nd out of 6 teams (there were many individual competitors who did all 4 parts themselves), competed against an Olympic triathlete, and had a blast - we are set to do more in the future. I did my 750m swim and 200m run in 15:02 minutes and was one of the first women out of the water! Again - I am so proud of myself!

Believing in myself is something I am working on, but I love proving myself wrong =D
But now, it's time to write that history paper...

Danny, Paul, Jen and me after we were all done with our race! A beautiful, sunny day!

to the left, to the left....noooo - to the RIGHT!

It's the little things that make you feel more at home. Like, when I'm running - I used to find myself drifting to the right side of the sidewalk, but now I have no problem staying on the left where I am supposed to be. Or when crossing the street - goodness knows how many times I was almost hit by a car when I first arrived here. But I can finally say, that after 2 months of being in Australia, I have FINALLY learned to look to the RIGHT first, and then the left. Otherwise, there might be trouble. And that is all contrary to what I have known for 21 years of my life. It's the small things like that that make me feel like I fit in here, and am no longer just a visitor. =D

Easter Break

I am officially on break now - study week, as it is called here. Fall (Autumn) break. Easter break. Whatever you want to call it! It started on Good Friday and extends till next week! Whooohoo! Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays here in Australia, and I find that kind of odd. I mean, maybe it's because they don't have separation of church and state(?) - I don't know, but it's not as if everyone goes out and runs to church. It was definitely an experience to not forget, celebrating Easter here. Good Friday I took the train up to Nicole's place, as she had invited me to go to Mass with her auntie and the rest of the family. It is so wonderful to be included in their family, as afterward we went back to her auntie's home and had a huge meal of fish curry, fish patties, delicious salads, and everything! I spent the night and Saturday I "nannied" the kids a bit while Nicole ran errands. I entertained them at the arcade, we flew kites in the park after watching Mary Poppins and had a blast! They are precious and I love being so close to them. I took the train home that night to celebrate Easter back in Freo.

I went to Mass at 8:30am with some of the students from Cleo's dorm and that in itself was a beautiful, yet odd celebration. When it was time to receive communion, everyone just rushes up to the front. There is really no order or much of a line formation as there is back home. We all sat in the pew with a confused look on our face and then joined in the "line." I guess everyone is anxious to receive Jesus, but I can't deny that either. Father Tony ended with a joke and we all walked out laughing and thinking of the different ways we celebrate Easter. Although the church was full, it wasn't as packed as I thought it would be, and I had put on an Easter dress, but it was really of no need - regular clothes would have sufficed, but I like feeling special for the glorious day. Christ is risen from the dead, we are one with him again!!! ALLELUIA!!!

Lyndsay, my RS, had invited the 5 of us that stayed home for break over to her family's house for Easter lunch! It was lovely - roast beef, cheesecake, corn on the cob! Sooo good. We stayed there all afternoon and on the way back home we had a brilliant idea of stopping at Blockbuster to rent one movie each for a marathon! Perfect! We all got home, changed into our "jim-jams" and enjoyed movie after movie after movie. We popped some popcorn, Pricey (our other RS) ordered us all Indian food for dinner, and we all sat down an ate like a (little) big family, as the rest of the students are gone. It's really nice having a smaller group around, as we get to bond really well. Pricey always does this thing at dinner where if you are sitting at his table, you always share a high and a low of the week or day, but last week he added in share someway you have helped someone this week, which really makes you think about serving other people and even the little things you do. This week, though, since it was such a small intimate group we added another new thing to share. We all shared something that we need to forgive someone for, or are trying to forgive someone for. It was amazing the hurts that came out and we were all bawling our eyes out by the end. But it was so good to get to know what is going on in some of our hearts. We wrapped up with some ice cream Pricey went out and got, and ended the night with all of us asleep on the couches with Cool Runnings on. What a beautiful Easter. (Oh, and there were some rain showers early in the morning, so peaceful and it just made the town shine and clean. I loved it).

Today, I am off to the beach for a bit, as it is starting to cool down here, and then I must get to work on my Ethics paper, in case I take a trip down south at the end of the week...

Hope y'all have a blessed Eater! (with some jelly bellies and chocolate involved as well...Cadbury creme egg, yes please!)

Happy happy Eater,
Megs

The big TWO-ONE!!!

Hip hip - HOORAY!!! I survived my 21st birthday! And although it's not quite as big of a deal here in Australia as it is back home in the states, it is still a big deal to turn the big two-one. It was so nice to have the day off from class and be able to spend the morning doing what I do best, shopping, and then spending time with my "family" here in the afternoon. Our family-friends threw a lovely barbie for me with a delicious homemade chocolate cake for dessert - and of course plenty of wine and champagne. The entire family was there, from little baby Zoe to great-granddad Paul. It was a lovely time, minus the fact that I had to wake up the next morning at 6:30am to catch the train back to Uni to be on time for my 8:30am class. I can't wait to enjoy a beer back home this summer!

On another note - it is now mid-semester break! Good Friday is a public holiday here in WA, and I don't have class on Wednesday or Thursday, so I've been on break now for three days, and have been enjoying the beach, that is for sure! I know part of my week is dedicated towards studying and sleeping, but who knows what else there is to come! I can not wait for Easter, to celebrate here, although I do miss my family and friends back home. Hope y'all have a blessed day!

Cheers,
Megan

Me and all the grandkids of the family friends. They have taken to calling me "Auntie Mimi" as the youngest, Zoe, in the pink, can't quite say "Megan" just yet.